[Hurricane Emily Image] [Coast Watch Image] [Earth/Sun Image]

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Environmental Information Services


Contents

What data products are available from NOAA?

NOAA data includes the latest GOES images of the U.S., the latest weather maps for the U.S., pictures of Hurricane Emily hitting the Outer Banks, studies of solar terrestrial physics, information on marine biology from the National Marine Fisheries Service, sea surface temperatures from Coast Watch images, weather in space, and many other things.

What can you do with data from NOAA?

NOAA data are used in a variety of ways. For instance, Michigan State University uses GOES images to produce weather movies. Like to surf? Predictions of surfing conditions in California and Hawaii from SurfNet are based on NOAA data. More examples on what you can do with data from NOAA can be found in the following documents.

How can you find data available from NOAA?

NOAA's largest sources of archived data are available at the following national data centers:

Searching for Data Sets and Information from NOAA

NOAA Environmental Information Services provides information about organizations, on-line systems, data sets, and other products available from NOAA from the data centers and other NOAA data providers.

To find data and data products of interest, select one of the search programs below. We suggest you use the NOAA Data Set Catalog.

Once you have located a data set that you wish to order or download, read the summary section to see if the data is available on-line somewhere. If not, contact the Data Center to find out how to order the data. In the near future, you will be able to download, order and/or browse the data sets using the NOAA Data Set Catalog option.

NOAA Participation in the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI)

NOAA is an active participant in the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). Department of Commerce employees chair three subcommittees in the areas of bathymetry, geodetic control, and cultural and demographic data. ESDIM has developed FGDC Metadata Standards for NOAA datasets. The NOAA Environmental Services Data Directory now has over 8,000 descriptions of NOAA data sets in the FGDC Metadata Standard format.

Other services provided by NOAA Environmental Information Services:

National Environmental Database Index (NEDI)

The National Environmental Data Index (NEDI) provides direct access to environmental data and information descriptions held at many locations. It allows full-text searching of these environmental metadata using WAIS search software and the Z39.50 protocol to communicate over the Internet. The overall goal of NEDI is to identify the widest possible range of environmental data and information and thereby facilitate their use by citizens, industry, government, and academia. NEDI is a core element of the National Information Infrastructure (NII).

Statistics for NESDIS On-Line Usage and Off-Line Requests

Usage of NOAA data has grown rapidly since tracking was started in July 1994. The number of online questions (traffic from the Internet) has grown almost 15 times. The number of questions from offline sources is increasing more slowly.

EIS Home Page Usage

Usage of NOAA's Environmental Information Services Home Page has been increasing tremendously since the NOAA Environmental Information Services Home Page was first made available in November, 1993.

NOAA Line and Program Offices

There are many Home Pages and services available from other NOAA line and program offices.


Comments/Questions/Suggestions

To send comments, suggestions and questions to the NOAA Environmental Information Services, fill out the form, or contact:

NOAA Environmental Information Services
1315 East West Highway, Room 15400
Silver Sping, MD 20910

Phone: 301-713-0575
FAX: 301-713-1249

E-mail: help@esdim.noaa.gov



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